Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently met with members of the Bangladeshi community who live in my electorate and in the electorate of my next door neighbour, the member for Rankin. We're working on this issue together.

I met with Adjunct Professor Adil Khan, Professor Reza Monem, Mr Azharul Karim, Dr Asad Khan, Adjunct Professor Iyanatul Islam, Dr Mazhar Haque and many others. They presented us with a petition calling on this House to do all it can to persuade the Myanmar government to establish a United Nations-led or independent investigation into allegations of genocide and human rights violations, to stop genocide or killing of innocent people immediately and to ensure the rights of the Rohingya minority. The member for Rankin will table that petition soon.

We know that this is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Over half a million Rohingya refugees have fled their homes in Myanmar. Most now camp near the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar on the border with Myanmar. The atrocities committed against the Rohingya community in Rakhine State are almost beyond our comprehension. It's crucial that there is unimpeded humanitarian access to the camps in Bangladesh, and that regional partners, including Australia, work together in response to this crisis to ensure that the Rohingya population has a safe and secure place to live in peace.

Labor has made a formal representation to the Prime Minister and the foreign minister to do everything in the government's power to respond to this escalating crisis. I look forward to working with the member for Rankin and the foreign minister to make sure that we can do all we can to get this sorted. I reiterate this request to the government.